Domestic appliance



1960 J. R. JOHNSTON ETAL 2,956,684

DOMESTIC APPLIANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 1959 INVENTORS John R. Johnsfon Daniel J. Barbu/esco Their Attorney Oct. 18, 1960 J. R. JOHNSTON EI'AL 2,956,684

DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 2. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS John R. Johns/on Daniel J. Barbu/esco Their Attorney 2,956,684 Patented Oct. 1 8, 1960 DOIVIESTIC APPLIANCE John R. Johnston, Covington, and Daniel J. Barbulesco, West Carrollton, Ohio, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 790,460'

3 Claims. (Cl. 210382) This invention relates to a domestic appliance and more particularly to an improved centrifuging basket for a washing machine.

In the washing machine art an automatic cycle generally includes certain portions thereof directed to washing or agitating the clothes and certain other portions in which the clothing is rotated at high speeds to centrifuge the wash water from the fabric in a damp drying operation. One conventional design utilized for centrifuging or spin baskets provides an outwardly tapered cylindrical wall on an imperforate basket to force the Water being cent-rifuged upwardly and out of the basket. In spin baskets 'of this type ports are provided about an upper edge of the wall as outflow means for the water being centrifuged. In this particular design blockage of these outflow ports frequently occurs. Where the spin basket is loaded with more than the desirable amount of clothes the clothes tend to block the outflow ports during spin thus preventing the eflicient removal of water from the spin basket. For this reason it is desirable to install a guard ring to prevent the clothing being centrifuged from entering the outflow ports.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improved clothes guard for a spin basket.

It is another object of this invention to provide a spin basket having outflow ports around an upper portion thereof with a guard ring supported by integral protuberances which extend into certain of said ports for supporting said ring.

It is another object of this invention to provide a clothes guard ring for a spin basket which is split at one point thereof to permit collapsing the guard ring uponitself to facilitate placing the ring within a spin basket.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a guard ring in a spin basket for preventing foreign material from interfering with the removal of water from the basket and wherein the ring is formed on a bias to facilitate circulation of the clothes during the wash cycle.

And still another object of this invention is the provision of a guard ring which can be installed in a spin basket after the basket is assembled.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein preferred forms of the present invention are clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a clothes washing machine provided with the teachings of this invention;

Figure 2 is a partial top sectional view taken along line 22 of Figure 1 showing the guard ring of this invention installed in a spin basket or tub;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side sectional view of a spin basket showing the tub mounting arrangement for the guard ring of this invention;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a spin basket provided with another embodiment of this invention;

tion, the ends of which are in overlapping relationship for admitting the ring to a spin basket;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the guard ring end lock; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the locktaken along line 7-7 in Figure 6.

In accordance with this invention and with reference to'Figure 1 a washing machine 10 is shown of the type taught in the patent "to Sisson 2,758,685, issued August 14, 1956. The washing machine 10 includes a spin tub or spin basket 12 having an access opening 14, a generally cylindrical side wall 16 and a bottom wall 18. Within the tub 12 an agitator 20 is located which may be reciprocated vertically by an agitating and spinning mechanism'22 of the type disclosed in the above cited patent. The agitating and spinning mechanism 22 serves also to selectively rotate the tub 12 ha centrifuging operation. Carried on the agitator 20 is a ring 24 for facilitating removal of lint and scum'from the surface of washing liquid retained in the basket 12. A second ring 26 aids a third ring 28;

in circulating the washing fluid in a toroidal motion (see arrows 62) within the basket 12. Any clothing to be washed in the tub 12 alsofollows the toroidal action of the liquid, the circulation causing the clothes fabric to be flexed and turned in the washing stream.

The spin basket 12' is formed with a ballast ring portion 30 comprised of a circular-outer collar 31 and an inner collar 33 for stabilizing the tub 12 during spin. The radially inner generally vertical wall of the collar 33 serves to define the access opening 14. In axial alignment with the access opening 14 is a lid 13 on the washing machine 10 which may be opened to place clothing or fabric within the tub 12. At the upper end of the wall 16 of the spin tub 12 a plurality of outflow ports 32 are arranged in spaced relationship about the periphery of the tub. More particularly the ports 32 are formed in a depending wall portion-35 of the collar 33. The ports 32 are available to carry off water being centrifuged from the clothes or fabric during the period that the tub 12 is being rotated by the mechanism 22.

In accordance with this invention the spin basket or tub 12 is vprovidedwith-a guard ring shown generally at 34 for preventing fabric within the tub 12 from entering the ports 32 during spin. The guard ring 34 consists of an inner rod member 36,.an outer rod member 38 and a central rod member 40 which are joined or held in spaced relationship by a plurality of suport and connect pieces 42 and connector pieces .or bars 44 (see Figure 2).

In accordance with one aspect of this invention the guard ring 34 is selfsupporting within the spin basket 12. It is necessary-to prevent anyfabric or clothing from entering the outflow ports 32 if the removal of water from the spin basket is to proceed without interruption. Further the guard ring 34 in holding the clothing away from the outflow ports 32 aids in the elimination of lint and scum from the surface of the washing liquid in the basket. Without such a device 34'the clothing could possibly block the outflow ports 32 and the wash water would then be strained through the-fabric of the clothes, leaving the remains of lint and scum on the fabric itself. It should be obvious that such results would be undesirable and could be-obviated with the use of the guard ring 34 of this invention.

With reference to Figures 2 and 3 the concentric rings 36, 38 and 40 are held together by a series of connector pieces 44 and support and connect pieces 42. The connector pieces 44 are nothing but short pieces of rods similar to the members 36, 38 and 41). At the point that the connector 44 crosses the rings 36, 38 and 40 respectively the rings are joined to the connector as by a welding'process. Interposed between the connect pieces 44 are the support and connect pieces 42 which are provided with a protuberance portion or loop 46. The loop 46 terminates in an upstanding portion or stop 48. Both the loop 46 and the stop 48 are brought into play when the guard ring 34 is installed in a tub 12 as will be explained more fully hereinafter.

The element or split ring 36 is provided with a first end 49 in juxtaposition to a second end portion 50. Similarly ring element 40 is provided with a first end portion 52 in juxtaposition to a second end portion 54. And lastly, the outer ring 38 has an end portion 56 in juxtaposition to another end portion 58. The end portions 49, 52 and 56 are joined by a rod connector and ring lock 45, while the end portions 50, 54 and 58 are joined by a connector 44". Thus it should be seen that the guard ring 34 is formed in a split fashion separated between the connectors 45 and 44" (see Figure 2). This permits the guard ring 34 to collapse or fold upon itself as seen more clearly in Figure 5, so that the maximum diameter of the guard ring 34 may be reduced for placing the ring through the access opening 14 of the spin basket 12. In Figure 5 the access opening 14 is diagrammatically represented by the dot-dash line.

In accordance with this invention the spin basket 12 is formed in a conventional manner with the outer and inner collars 31, 33, respectively of the ballast ring 30 and the tub wall 16 in assembled relationship. As a final assembly operation the guard ring 34 is collapsed by overlapping the connectors 45 and 44" until the maximum diameter of the collapsed guard ring fits within the tub access opening 14 as depicted in Figure 5. Once in the spin basket 12 adjacent the circle of outflow ports 32 the guard ring 34 may be permitted to expand into engagement with the cylindrical wall 16 of the spin basket 12. The support and connect pieces 42 are so positioned in relationship to the outflow ports 32 thatthe ring 34 may be rotated in any direction until the protuberances 46 of the support and connect pieces 42 align with certain of the ports. At this time the ring 34 will expand due to its inherent resilience, the protuberances or loops 46 projecting through the respective outflow ports 32. The upstanding portion of the loop 48 will abut the edge of the outflow port 32 to provide a secure and positive seating relationship of the guard ring 34 to the spin basket 12. Of course the outer ring 38 will also limit the expansion of the guard ring 34 at the flange 35 in which the ports 32 are located. It will be noted in Figure 3 that the support and connect pieces 42 retain the rings 36, 38 and 40 in position adjacent the bottom of the outflow ports 32 to keep the ports clear at all times. In this fashion foreign objects will be prevented from blocking any portion of ports 32.

With reference to Figure 4 another embodiment of this invention may be seen. When the agitate and spinning mechanism 22 reciprocates vertically the agitator 20 of this invention a toroidal water circulation is effected within the spin basket 12 as indicated by the arrows 62. With such toroidal circulation the clothing being Washed follows a similar path. Therefore the outer periphery of the toroidal circulation is caused to pass in close proxiimity to the guard ring 34. For this reason a guard ring 64 is formed wherein the rings 66, 68 and 70 are placed on a radially inwardly ascending bias by a support and connect piece 72 which has a sloping portion 74. The support and connect piece 72 is formed with a protuberance 76 and stop 78 similar to that described in connection with the first embodiment of this invention. In the design of Figure 4 it may be seen that a greater clearance is permitted the circulating clothing than is possible with the ring 34, the bias relationship of the guard ring 64 projecting a lesser distance into the circulating stream than does its counterpart 34.

In operation water is admitted to the spin basket 12 at the start of a washing operation in accordance with any well-known supply means (not shown). Water is filled to a level 80 before the supply means is automatically stopped as by a timer. At this time the automatic timer will selectively energize the mechanism 22 to reciprocate the agitator 20, effecting a toroidal washing action of the clothes within the spin basket 12. Just prior to the end of the washing cycle the water supply means is again energized for an overflow period wherein the washing level 80 is raised to a level adjacent the outflow ports 32 and the mechanism 22 energized for a high speed reciprocation of the agitator 20. During the overflow period the ring 24 is reciprocated vertically in a path opposite the outflow ports 32 and thus the lint and scum collecting on the surface of the washing fluid is forced radially outwardly through the ports 32. Following the washing and overflow operation a timed cycle could include a spinning or centrifuging operation, wherein the mechanism 22 is energized to spin or rotate the basket 12. During spin the water which remains in the spin basket 12 at the conclusion of the overflow period is removed from the basket by means of the ports 32, the centrifuging serving to force the water from the basket and from the clothes therein. It is during this portion of an automatic wash cycle that means are required to keep the clothing from entering the outflow ports 32 and blocking same. With the teachings of this invention the guard ring 34 is effective to retain the clothing beneath the level of the outflow ports 32, thereby maintaining the ports in a freely open or unblocked condition for convenient removal of water and lint and scum from the surface of the Washing fluid.

The simplicity of the construction of guard rings 34 and 64 is effective to permit the easy inclusion thereof in existing spin baskets as well as in spin baskets at the time of manufacture. The protuberances 46 and 76 of the guard rings of this invention effectively support the rings in correct relationship to the outflow ports 32 without the need for additional mounting elements. Further the split ring arrangement facilitates the installation of such guard rings in pre-built tubsa feature which will permit the advantages of this invention to be enjoyed also by those with older automatic washing machines.

It may be desirable to lock the split ends of the ring 34 once the ring is positioned Within the tub 12. For this reason the lock or fastener piece 45 is provided with extensions 86, 88 having upturned lock fingers 90, 92 respectively. After the ring 34 has been placed within the tub 12 and permitted to expand to its normal size, the upstanding finger 90 is placed between the rods 50, 54 and the finger 92 between rods 54, 58. Thus the connector 44" will be cradled on the extensions 86, 88. When the adjacent ends of the ring 34 are correctly aligned, the fingers 90, 92 are bent downwardly to the phantom line position of Figure 7 to securely retain the ring 34 in a fixed configuration.

It may also be desirable to coat the ring 34 with a vinyl finish as a protective covering for the metal parts.

While the forms of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination, a spin basket having a container portion and an access opening smaller than said container portion, said container portion having a plurality of circumferentially arranged ports, means for rotating said tub in a centrifuging operation, and a contractable means having a first configuration for passing said access opening and a second configuration for preventing a substance being centrifuged from blocking said ports, said contractable means comprising a plurality of concentrically arranged non-continuous rings having first and second end portions, means for selectively locking said first and second end portions in juxtaposition, a connector piece for holding said rings in spaced relation ship, and a protuberance on said connector piece extending into one of said ports for supporting said contractable means.

2. A clothes guard for a washing machine spin tub comprising a plurality of concentrically arranged members, first connectors for retaining said members in spaced relationship, second connectors longer than said first connectors for supporting said members in said tub, said members being interrupted at one point thereof for permitting said member to contract for installation in said tub, and means for selectively locking said members at said point of interruption to prevent removal of said guard from said tub.

3. A clothes guard for a washing machine spin tub having outflow ports comprising, a plurality of spaced concentrically arranged coplanar rods, each of said rods having first and second end portions, said first and second end portions of each of said rods being in juxtaposition, a rod connector member for joining said first end portions, a rod connector and lock member for joining said second end portions, said rod connector and lock memher positioned parallel to said rod connector member and having an integral lock finger extending between a pair of said first end portions and into locking engagement with said rod connector member, and a plurality of circumferentially arranged support and connect members, each of said support and connect members having a straight section for joining said rods in spaced relationship and a looped section extending into one of said outflow ports for supporting said clothes guard in said tub below said outflow ports, said looped section adapted for removal from said one of said outflow ports to facilitate removal of said clothes guard from said tub when said lock finger is disengaged from said rod connector member and displaced radially inwardly therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,823,534 Loehle Feb. 18, 1958 

